Couple of Quick Sketches

Here are a couple of quick sketches in the cartridge paper sketchbook.

This first is a bear key chain I have on hand.  It reminds me of my sissy in law, Darlene, as she is an avid bear anything collector :-)

This next one is pretty well self explanatory with the notes on the page.  

Productive Two Days

Nothing like Internet Withdrawal to help motivate a person into doing more journaling :-) 

These were all worked in the Strathmore Visual Journal.  Micron pens and Daniel Smith watercolors used for each entry.
 

 

 

 

Trying the Strathmore Visual Journal

I picked this journal up a few months ago and decided to give it a try.  I wasn't really sure what to expect as I haven't used Strathmore paper outside of watercolor pads many years ago that I didn't really care for.  This journal, however, promises to be fun to use.

I like how color lifts; like how the paint spreads wet in wet; and even with a fan blowing over head, the paper stayed wet long enough for me to work an area without fear of it drying too quickly.  The surface is bumpy on the front side of the page and slightly smoother on the back side.........both sides fun to work on.

One thing I noticed using a Micron pen, the ink could be lifted with the corner tip of a slanted flat brush.  That's not such a bad thing either when necessary.

Very first page in the journal which consists of 140 lb Cold Press paper.  Using Daniel Smith watercolors and Micron 03 and 005 pens.

Backside of the first page in the journal.  Slightly smoother surface making it easier to use pen and ink; although, I really didn't find it to be much problem on the front either.  Using Daniel Smith watercolors and Micron 03 pen.

Another from Venetian Gardens

I'm truly loving this accordion journal!!!  The paper surface is a real joy to work on.

This next journal entry continues with my last trip to Venetian Gardens when Terry and I went last Sunday.

I have several more pages to do with various birds I came across that day.  There are also landscape scenes and other subjects.............lots of tidbits to fill this journal :-)

The right page was done first with pen and ink (Micron) and then using Daniel Smith watercolors.  Then I wrote the bit on the left side.  I felt it was too plain looking so I then used pen and ink to draw the little bird illustration.  That still didn't do it for me so I added a touch of watercolor.  For me it added that little something extra to the page of notes.

Jade Plants - Two Different Varieties

It's been a super long time since I attempted to grow Jades........mainly due to the fact I never had decent locations in the house that provided the sunlight needed.   Now that I live in Florida and the house we are in has a Sun or Florida room, I'm giving them a try again. 

I purchased these through the local Lowe's and each is a little different......one with the larger leaves and muted greens and the other has smaller and lighter green leaves.

As noted on the pages, I'm playing with Daniel Smith tube greens.  These pages are side by side in the Stillman & Birn Delta journals.

Lilies or Lotus - Venetian Gardens FL

These were completed in the Accordion sketchbook that was gifted me Sunday.

What I call Water Lilies are actually Lotus after doing research on the internet.

Pen and Ink plus watercolor. I am really enjoying this paper surface which is Sennelier.  The surface is smooth and very forgiving.  Also lifts color off easily.

 

Sunday Sight Seeing

This past Sunday, I finally met a gentleman in one of my Art Groups through Facebook.  There are several people in my group that live in or near where we have relocated and hope to meet them in person soon.

Lee picked me up Sunday morning and drove me around to various places he likes to sketch.  The locations included Emeralda Marsh, Venetian Gardens, Eustis, Tavares, Mount Dora, and the main heart of Leesburg.  These towns have such a charming quality about them - especially Mount Dora.  Before returning home, he drove me to where he and his wife live and I had the opportunity to meet his lovely wife.  Both are such nice people!!!!

After I was dropped off, I drove Terry out to see a couple of the places Lee drove me to.  Venetian Gardens was one of those places and Terry and I spent quite some time there walking around.  

Here is a pen and ink plus watercolor sketch of the swimming pool building where we parked. This was worked in a new Accordion Sketchbook Lee gifted me he picked up in France.  I enjoyed working on this paper I've never used before.  I've decided to dedicate the front fold out pages to Venetian Gardens and then not sure yet on what I'll dedicate the back sides to.  I'm sure another location here where we live.....maybe Emeralda Marsh or maybe some of the wildlife - birds in particular I've seen already living here.  :-)

Catching Up - Post 5

This post brings me up to date and completed over the last 10 days.

Worked in the Stillman & Birn Delta journal.

Catching Up - Post 4

Now that we've pretty much unpacked what we're going to use here at the house in Florida from Trip #2, I've been able to settle down a bit and work in my journals.  We still have one more trip to make but needed a break.

This was done in the Handbook:

A plant we've never seen before picked up at Lowes.  This house has a Florida room so I've picked up several flowering plants.

Catching Up - Post 3

August - Graphite and Polychromo Pencil - As you can see, I was not productive at all with my art.

When unpacking, I came across this pendant that belonged to my Mom when I was just a toddler.

Worked in the Cartridge Paper sketchbook.

Catching Up - Post 2

July Continued - Mixed

 

Cathing Up - Post 1

WOW, I cannot believe how far behind I am on posting here in my Blog.  July and August was a tough month with Part 2 of a 3 Part relocation to Florida.  Then some health issues hit and now here it is almost the middle of September.

Several of my posts here will be just including what I managed to accomplish without a great deal of "commentary" 

Accomplished in July - Pen and Ink Only:

My Favorite Brushes

This is a page in the Stillman & Birn Beta journal I'm trying to keep dedicated to my materials and supplies, color charts, and maybe at some point various techniques. 

Although I have several different size and type brushes, these four are the main ones I tend to reach for with the #8 Kolinsky and the 3/8" Synthetic Angular being what I use most often.  The #14 Silver Ultra Mini (synthetic) I will grab if I need a real sharp point and the 3/4" DaVinci Flat (synthetic) for large areas.

I love my Kolinsky brushes but sometimes I prefer a synthetic for better control of the amount of water in the brush.

Again using MairmeriBlu watercolors, I'm trying to get used to the color mixing results compared to what I'm used to with Daniel Smith and Winsor & Newton pigments. 

The flesh tone was trial and error since I didn't have Perm Alizarin I'm used to using.   The closest to Perm Aliz I had to work with was either Crimson Lake or Primary Red Magenta mixing each with Raw Sienna, Golden Lake, or Burnt Umber.  I went back and forth so many times trying to get the flesh tone I wanted that I honestly can't say which I ended up using :-)

Microns 05 both in Sienna and Black were used. and in places I used a Sharpie extra fine white marker pen.

Plant Pot Picks

Plant Pot Picks..................try to say that fast three times.  I for one stumble by the third time saying Plot instead of Pot  :-)

Trying to decide what I wanted to sketch today, one of my plants with this plant pick captured my attention. 

Worked in the Handbook journal first sketching in pencil, adding watercolor, and then the pen and ink using a Micron 005.  Watercolors used were MairmeriBlu.

Here are the steps I took:

Used a mechanical pencil for the initial sketch....

 

Wasn't satisfied with the balance so added a couple more leaf segments to the right as you view it....

 

Next I painted everything starting with the bee.  I started to add the pen and ink before realizing I wanted to scan before doing so....

And finally, here is the results with pen and ink detailing everything.

Eastern Phoebe Young'n from First Brood

After watching a new video by Cathy Johnson on sketching/painting a Wren, I had this great desire to do the same with this Eastern Phoebe. 

Cathy's video showed how she handled the fluffiness of the body and wings often seen when a bird is trying to keep warm.  Using those same techniques for depicting a young bird, I worked this watercolor with pen and ink. 

This is a young Eastern Phoebe from the first brood of the year. We have a second right now with the babies soon to take off.

Handbook, 01 and 02 Microns (02 for notes), Mairmeriblu watercolors and #8 round. Used a 3/8" angular here and there too plus a touch of my white sharpie fine marker.

Goal was to try and capture that fluffiness and capture that greenish tone on the body.

Terry's Make-shift Hanger

As we get closer to our move date, we've taken down all the bird feeders, hangers, and baffles we had out front.  With the hummers here, Terry decided to make a temporary wood hanger for one of our hummingbird feeders right outside my window.  Thought I would capture that in my journal.

Worked in the Handbook using MaimeriBlu watercolors keeping things loose and simple.  Line work with Pilot Prera and Lexington Gray ink.

Stillman & Birn Beta Journal New Pages

So far I've kept this new journal dedicated to supplies and charts.  I've yet to do that with all the journals I've worked in.  We'll see if I can actually do one that is subject oriented rather than a mix of mediums and subjects.  :-)

First I worked the pages showing my pens and various pencils I use (found in an earlier post).  This next page in my journal shows one of my smaller palettes that is dedicated to greens plus Lunar Pigments from Daniel Smith.

I tend to stick with tube greens altering with yellows or blues due to simplicity sake but I would like to get back to mixing my own greens.  It's been awhile and had forgotten the variations I could achieve by mixing my own. 

After watching Cathy's Johnson video on Mixing Greens, she made it look so much fun that I worked these next three pages of greens. 

Next I'll probably work my Violets and Oranges for reference.  This is where having a dedicated journal will be nice...........I can easily locate these charts if I keep them all in one place.

Handbook Journal Entries

I've been a busy body with my sketching.............just slow in getting them posted.  Here are the last several pages in my square Handbook...

Sketchbook Skool

These next two pages are following a course I'm taking online called Sketchbook Skool.  It's a 6 week course with six different instructors like Danny Gregory, Cathy Johnson, Brenda Swenson, and I can't remember the other three names.  Danny Gregory started this semester and here are the results of my homework for the first week.

First exercise was to take a piece of toast and try to capture nooks and crannies you "see"........not what you think you see.

Next exercise blocking in a general shape working fast.........no detail.   Then going back and working slow, putting down details correcting angles, sizes, etc. the initial quick sketch didn't get right.  To fully understand this exercise, one would need to take the course.  I can't give away all the specifics ;-)